A group of animal rights protesters were escorted out by police after demonstrating inside a restaurant in Brighton last night.

Footage of the protest at Jamie’s Italian in Black Lion Street, which is not being published for privacy reasons, shows the group standing amid tables in the restaurant shouting: “It’s not food, it’s violence” and “their families, not ours.” Protesters, who have identified themselves as DxE Brighton, part of international animal rights organisation Direct Action Everywhere, are seen holding posters and placards as police officers ask them to leave. A police spokesman confirmed officers were called at 7.30pm to reports from restaurant staff that a group of around 30 individuals were shouting, taking photos and becoming aggressive towards customers. He said that nearby officers arrived minutes later to find there was no evidence of physical aggression but a loud hailer was being used by the group, most of whom had already left the premises and were protesting peacefully outside. The remaining members of the group were asked to leave and no further action was needed, he said. DxE Brighton has said 25 people joined its demo holding signs, flowers and even a fake piglet on a plate to protest ‘the way that animal flesh is presented and advertised’, which the group says allows people ‘to forget they were once even an animal, let alone that they were a thinking, feeling individual’. A DxE Brighton spokeswoman added: “We are standing up for the animals who are suffering a great injustice as a result of our speciesist society. This is a social justice movement. We are here to speak up against the oppression of our fellow animals who are used and abused, whose screams go unheard or fall on uncaring ears.”